Shadow vs Halloween
by Ceciliavonjoy
Summary: Written for Halloween! Rouge and Shadow have been invited to a Halloween party, but the edgehog wants to stay home. Rouge, however, has an ace up his sleeve to get him to come. (Loose sequel to this: /s/12954681/1/Cake-Mistake)


Note: Loose sequel to Cake Mistake!

Shadow sat on the edge of a plush pink bed, frowning at a clear plastic package in his hand. He clashed heavily with his surroundings; the room was clearly not his. The main furniture pieces were all a matching white, with pink, purple, or black for accents. His feet dangled over a soft lavender carpet. A large, overflowing jewelry box, black velvet, was the centerpiece on top of a smart white dresser. Heart-shaped pillows in colors from around the room were artistically arranged on the bed. A makeup bag had been taken from the bed stand, but you would have had to know it had been there to notice. Rouge kept her room dusted.

No, the pointy, no nonsense guy scowling at a Halloween costume didn't decide how the place looked.

Rouge spoke from behind her closed closet door. "Have you put on the costume I bought you? We need to be ready in less than an hour."

"No."

"Shadow, you said you'd come!"

"You wouldn't let up until I did." From his point of view, that didn't count.

"Now isn't the time to get cold feet," Rouge said, clothes rustled as she spoke. "It's Halloween, you promised, and we have the night off. You _will_ dress up and have fun."

His feet were not cold (lukewarm, maybe, but he wasn't usually cold in his shoes) and he distinctly did not recall promising anything. Maybe saying, fine, yes Rouge, to escape a round of motherly badgering, but not making a _promise._ That was different.

He repeated himself. "No."

"I did say there won't be a crazy amount of people there, right? Maybe six with us there?"

"They'll be fine with five."

"Shadow…! I haven't forgotten that you ate all my Dove chocolates," she said warningly. "I was saving those. You owe me one."

"I had no way of knowing they were reserved."

Rouge muttered, "Ugh, no, these are the wrong color-" Then she raised her voice to keep speaking to him. "Who did you think went and bought them?" She asked, the sarcasm clear. "Omega?"

"You bought everything in the apartment," Shadow replied calmly, "and _it's_ not all yours."

"I picked out everything because your taste in furniture is terrible!" Rouge admonished. "You think the word 'decoration' means a dessert! If furnishing the place were up to you, we'd have a ratty old couch stolen from someone's garbage and some milk crates."

"I do not think decorations are edible- And the point of furniture is to be useful."

"Where did I put that dress-" Hangers being shuffled and clothes rustling. Then raising her voice again. "My furniture is functional _and_ looks nice."

"Fine," he said, "but what the hell is this costume?" Shadow squinted at the person modeling it on the cardboard lining inside the package. Cheap red and green striped shirt with splatters of the fakest looking blood he had ever seen, brown pants, plastic claws sticking from brown gloves, a brimmed hat, and an ugly rubber mask. The hat and pants weren't even included. "The claws will get in my way."

"Oh, that… Sorry, I was in a hurry and grabbed something simple that was in your size. There wasn't much left this close to Halloween-" A pause and rustling. "He's some horror movie thing?"

He squinted at the packaging again. The bright green font of the title was drippy and bubbly and hard to read. "Freed…Konger…Medium."

She sounded confused. "Uh? I thought it said Freddy Krueger."

He tried to verify this, but all that did was tax his eyes. He stopped caring what the damn thing said. "Sure," he said, letting the package drop onto the bed. "I'm not wearing it. It won't all fit me."

"You don't have to wear all the bits of it," she said, trying to placate him, "Just enough that it looks like you tried to dress up, ok?"

"No," he said, yet again, in the same flat tone. "I'm skipping this. I don't see the point."

"You _will not_ skip it. It's a small costume get-together, with food, and I told Amy you'd be there-" She paused. Some more clothes rustled. "Think of it this way. I said a costume is the uniform for Halloween, right? Well, it makes you eligible to receive all the candy and desserts you could want."

Shadow's ears perked up. She'd tried to explain Halloween to him earlier, but this was new information.

"And," she added, taking his silence as encouraging, "Amy's made a chocolate coffee cake this year. You'll have to come to the party to get some."

"You did not tell me this," he said. "That…changes the situation."

"Good." Rouge sounded pleased. "So you'll wear it and go?"

"Some of it," he said grudgingly. "For a short time."

"Of course. All I want is for you to get out of the house for something that's not a mission. I won't make you stay long. Get dressed and we'll go once I'm ready."

Shadow nodded, since he was terse and had to do that instead of saying yes, even when she couldn't see him do it. He roughly ripped the costume package open and dumped its contents on the bed.

A small black trash bin sat under the bed stand. He picked up the costume bits one by one, and decided whether to keep them. Mask, nope, wrong shape and impairs vision. There it went into the bin, not even a backwards glance. The clawed gloves? No, they would get in the way of his hands. Wouldn't fit over his inhibitor rings, either. Toss. He didn't need the packaging anymore, either-

"I can hear that! Are you seriously throwing it out?!"

"Not all of it," Shadow said.

Rouge sighed. "Cost me thirty dollars…"

He doubted she was seriously upset. He had heard her 'seriously upset', and that wasn't it.

Back to it. Only the shirt was left. He didn't have any hats or pants to go with it, but those seemed unnecessary anyways. Too ordinary looking.

The shirt was ridiculous, but it was distinctive and resembled something else. That was the quality of a costume that made it qualify as a Halloween Uniform. And, he assumed, as "enough that it looks like you tried".

He put it on, with the help of the extremely stretchy fabric. It went over his back quills, pinning them down somewhat. Mobian clothes had to get past their heads somehow.

And Shadow sat there and waited for Rouge, the shirt feeling odd on his fur. He sort of understood why he had to wear it, but it was a strange concept to Shadow's intensely practical mind. Rouge's briefings on Halloween had helped, somewhat. Wear a Uniform on Halloween. Uniforms, for unity in a military, he understands.

But the Halloween one can look like whatever you want. So it isn't a uniform at all, not by any definition of one. However, not wearing a Uniform means no access to the sugar and desserts that are integral to this day. To participate, a Uniform is essential.

For most people, he'd been told, the conundrum involved was in choosing which Halloween Uniform to wear. There were infinite choices. Halloween Stores pop up a few months before this day, selling only Uniforms.

Well, to be fair, the Uniform did have one definitive guideline: again, to look like someone or something else. Which was strange. Ordinarily such a thing bordered on criminal. He had in fact once done that on accident and gotten Sonic jailed (or so he had been told; his memory was not the most reliable thing). So how did costumes for Halloween come to be? Who decided this would happen, just for a day? Was it a cover for their own attempts at an impersonation?

Shadow was lost in thought now, puzzling this over. He had already forgotten who the shirt was supposed to look like. He would have guessed Freedom Cougar, or something.

"Okay, I'm done!"

Shadow looked up, startled, his train of thought derailed. The closet door knob turned.

Rouge stepped out transformed into a fallen angel. The black fabric was artfully pinned to best drape itself over her body, one of her legs peeking out from a slit in the dress. Sheer, dark purple stockings ended in delicate stiletto heels black as night. The feathery covers on her wings, a cream color fading down into dark purple, matched the eyeshadow gradient she must have sold her soul to flawlessly achieve. Shadow knew nothing about makeup, so he did not wonder how she had applied that so well while in a closet, but he should have.

"So," she said, her plump lips an eye-catching blood red, "how do I look?"

Shadow took in the sight of her, and shrugged.

"You're right, I look fantastic," said Rouge, clearly used to this. "Let's go," she said. And, as she said it, it was so.

Awhile later, Rouge and Shadow stepped out of a taxi (after paying a fare that would reduce any Uber driver to fits of envy), and approached a cozy looking, two story house on the edge of town.

"Come find me once you're done," Rouge was saying as they went up the walkway, "and we'll go."

Shadow nodded. Rouge went forwards, and rang the doorbell.

A friendly pink witch, her frilly aproned dress purple and orange, opened the door. Amy lit up under her large pointy hat when she saw them. From behind her came the sounds of friendly party chatter and music.

"Rouge! And, Shadow!" She added his name with considerably more surprise. Being told he was coming to a party, and actually seeing him there, were two very different things. "Come in! I'm glad you both could come!"

She stepped backwards to give them room through the door, the large rubber bat pinned to her hat wobbling. "Did you make that costume, Rouge?" Amy asked, oozing enthusiasm, "You look amazing!"

"Thank you, thank you," Rouge said graciously, stepping gracefully inside. Shadow followed her silently, glancing warily around the room. "And, oh, I wish I had!" She lamented, "But no. Work has been rough lately. I just barely found time to buy and alter one this year."

"Oh, I understand," Amy said agreeably, shutting the front door. "Work and Eggman and things always get in the way."

"Amy," Shadow interrupted tersely, "I have a Friendly Kroger uniform. Where is the cake?"

Amy looked puzzled, but smiled and pointed at the table of food. "Over there," she said, "right next to the cupcake tower. Help yourself."

He nodded with his characteristic seriousness, and strode with purpose in the direction of the buffet.

Amy turned back to Rouge, fully displaying her confusion now. "Er, Rouge, why is he dressed as Freddy Krueger?" She had to speak up a bit to be heard over the speakers, now playing the Monster Mash (a graveyard smash). "I didn't think he knew who that was."

"He doesn't," Rouge said dryly. "Neither do I. I grabbed it last minute so he'd have something to wear." She raised her equivalent of an eyebrow. "You recognized him?"

"Oh, yeah," Amy said, nodding, "I've seen _all_ the movies." And she ploughed forwards, matter-of-fact but enthusiastic: "The second one was kinda not good, and they went downhill with the fifth one, but all the others are great! Especially the first one- but don't watch the remake! The remake is terrible. I thought Freddy vs. Jason was pretty good, though. It was super fun to watch; the reviews were really unfair to- Oh!"

Amy spun around, her sixth sense for hedgehogs firing. "Sonic!" She waved, jubilant. "Hi!"

"You saw me come in ten minutes ago, Amy!" he said with a laugh, "but hi, again." He was in the same vampire cape he wore every year, with the cuffs of his gloves and socks made to look frayed. There was a purple cupcake in his hand. "Hey, Rouge." He turned to the bat. "Good to see ya. I saw Shadow come in too- Do you know why he's in a Christmas sweater? Did he get the holidays confused, or-?"

"Don't let the red and green and missing costume parts fool you!" Amy said, before before Rouge could answer. "He's Freddy Krueger!"

Sonic tilted his head, politely confused. "Sorry, Freddy who?"

"Oh my gosh, you haven't heard of him?! He's a famous horror movie! A classic!" She bounded over into Sonic, eager to explain, "He's the spirit of a dead man who attacks people in their dreams, and-"

Rouge slipped away, chuckling at the sight of Amy clinging to Sonic's arm and rattling off everything she knew about the movies, while Sonic struggled to get away and recover his dropped cupcake.

She looked away, scanning the room. She found Shadow; he was standing in one corner by himself like the loner he was. He had a paper plate stacked with frosted cookies and cake, and was focused on steadily eating through it. For the moment, he seemed content.

Rouge brought her attention back to Sonic and Amy, who was still rambling. She'd be nice and rescue him.

"…but Jason had his healing factor," Amy was saying, "so it was evenly matched, and you didn't know who would come out on top-"

"Oh, Amy!" Rouge said, raising her voice, "Can you tell me about the lovely cake you baked?"

"So then the- Uh?" Amy looked up, brought out of her spell. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She let go of Sonic. He stepped away, rubbing his arm. "I'm the hostess," she said fervently, mostly to herself, "I can't be ignoring people-!"

"It's okay, Amy," Sonic said a bit nervously, trying to pacify her.

"Yes," Rouge echoed, "It's alright."

"Right, okay." Amy took a deep breath. "Phew. First time I'm hosting instead of Vanilla. Still nervous. Sorry, uh," she turned her distracted attention to Rouge. "You asked about the cake?"

"Yes," Rouge said. "A chocolate coffee cake, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Amy said, nodding, "I found it on this cooking blog called Steak And Bake."

Rouge chanced a glance past Amy's witch hat at Sonic. He mouthed 'thank you' to her, looking relieved. Then he looked around, lit up, and hurried for Vanilla and Cream's apple bobbing.

"The lady who runs it really likes cake and meat, I guess," Amy was saying, shaking her head, "That's all there is on there, desserts and sixty different ways to cook ham! I don't think those really go together, do you?"

"Oh- No, not at all. But, I was wondering," Rouge said, "could you send me the cake recipe? I might make it myself, if I can find time. Shadow seems to like it."

"Oh, sure!" Amy said, smiling. She looked happy that someone so hard to please was enjoying it. "He likes it?"

Rouge nodded. "Don't be too obvious that you're looking. He's in the corner over there," she pointed discreetly, "with a plateful of cake."

Amy turned her head, bat wobbling on her enormous hat, and she stared into the corner. She pointed, almost hopping from excitement.

"OH YEAH!"

Rouge jumped.

 _"THAT'S MY CAKE!"_

The bat recovered and looked over, fearing the worst.

In fact, thank god, and all the other deities too just in case, Shadow was occupied. Cream had left the apple bobbing to try to talk to him. He was answering her, but even from this distance Rouge could tell he wasn't holding up his end of the conversation very well. She relaxed; he was being himself and hadn't noticed. Sheesh. Monosyllables the hedgehog.

 _"WAIT,_ _SORRY-!"_ Amy clapped her hands over her yelling mouth. Then she let them down, looking contrite. Rouge had jumped again.

"I mean, sorry," she repeated in a whisper. "You said not too obvious. Sorry. Oh geez." She laughed sheepishly. "I should probably calm down…"

"It's alright, the strain of hosting and all-" Rouge endeavored to be calming. "The recipe, though?"

"O-Oh, right," Amy bobbed her head. "I can't now- I'll email you the link after the party's over?"

"Sounds great. Thank you."

"Glad I could help! Um, but, goodbye, I should- go check on the other guests-" Amy whipped her head around, hat threatening to fall off her head. "Oh!" She hurried towards the set of speakers, which were playing a bouncy tune about it being Halloween. "There you are, Sonic-!"

Rouge chuckled. Some things never really changed.

Another glance at Shadow. He still has food. She still has time.

Actually, she thought, looking away, why not hit the buffet herself? No reason she can't indulge a little. Now, what to try…?

As Rouge willed it, it was so. She ended up with a plate of pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, a brownie pipe-frosted to look like a tombstone, and these adorable puffy marshmallow ghosts with light blue smiles. She took one up to try it, and bit off the head. Yum. It rested in pieces.

She took the plate with her and wandered around the room. Rouge took an absent bite of a dessert now and then, focused on taking in what was happening while not disturbing anyone. She was a spy. It was natural by now.

Amy had managed to rope Sonic into dancing with her to a bouncy tune from the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. He didn't seem to be having a bad time, either! Rouge smiled.

There was Cream, grabbing more apples from the kitchen for her mother at the apple bobbing. She was a cute little apprentice witch in purple, with a hat that kept wanting to fall off. She must have wanted to match Amy. Tails was standing there, eagerly waiting to bob for said apples. He was dressed like a very small scientist, in a lab coat and goggles. Little baby witch Cream put the apples in the tub and apologized to him very nicely for the wait.

A quick look around told Rouge that Knuckles must have stayed on his island…which was too bad. He'd had the most hilarious mummy costume last year. He had walked around, suspecting nothing, while the long strip of white fabric had unraveled around the room. It took until it was down around his ankles for him to notice.

She'd helped. Not the cause, she didn't do that; it really had come undone by itself. She had just distracted him a little whenever it seemed like he'd figure it out.

Rouge smiled again, this time an impish smirk. That _had_ been fun. Just a little flirting made Knuckles make the most incredible faces, almost as red as his fur! Not that she didn't mean it. She did. She liked Knuckles well enough. It was just so damn fun to mess with him.

And with work and everything else going on in her life, she has no time to form any steady romantic relationships…

Her mind wandered, no longer seeing what was around her. She had toyed with the idea of aiming her charms at Shadow, once. They had formed a sort of understanding, and the 'stoic bad boy' thing had its attractions. But that had been before they worked together, and she found out just how little he really knew about the world.

That had killed the idea rather quickly. A first glance deceived you; on mission, in a situation with a clear goal, Shadow was the very picture of strength and competence. He was, Shadow informed people almost daily, the ultimate lifeform. From GUN's point of view, Rouge and Omega had to be his teammates since they were the only ones capable of keeping up with him.

Basically, you see a guy throw a bus at a bunch of robots, you figure he doesn't really need much help with anything.

But this was the same Shadow who once investigated each of the vegetables in their apartment fridge, because he'd never seen any of them before. He bit into a raw onion to see how it tasted. And, some eye-watering fumes later, decided he didn't care for it.

No, that was not someone she could feel any romance towards. The 'stoic bad boy' had turned out to be more of a 'traumatized, sheltered teenager'. It was like watching a child, some days. A very strong and quiet one, but still. So he guarded her during missions, and she taught him how to buy groceries. Not what she had pictured happening, but it worked.

Speaking of, Shadow was coming her way. He lived single-mindedly; if he was heading your direction, you knew.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Half of the tombstone brownie was all that was left on her plate (delicious, just a little bit too rich, really) she stuffed it in her mouth.

"I'm done," Shadow said. "I've eaten and had conversation."

"Murfh," Rouge said. She hastily chewed and swallowed and tried again. "Arihnf… I mean, alright. I said we'll leave. We'll go."

As she said it, it was so-

"M-Miss Rouge!"

Or, uh, almost.

Rouge stopped, her hand at the door knob and Shadow behind her, and turned at the call. Cream was hurrying their way, holding her witch hat to her head with both hands. She was walking as fast as she could, because running indoors was Rude.

"I- I'm sorry for shouting," Cream said anxiously, a bit out of breath once she made it to Rouge. "But, are you leaving?"

Rouge smiled at her. She was always charmed by how polite this kid was. "Yes, I am," she said, "Why do you ask?"

"Miss Amy wanted me to tell you that she is about to start the movie upstairs. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Um," she paused to concentrate and remember what she had been told, "and she says…it is ok if you go home, but, the movie is there, if you want to see it? Um," she added, feeling like she should, "please?"

"I understand. Shadow," Rouge turned to him, "interested in a movie? Not too emotional or realistic, and about the goofy boss of Halloween trying to steal Christmas?"

He shook his head.

Rouge turned back to Cream, kneeling a little. "Sorry, kiddo, he and I have got to go home. Parties tire Shadow out."

"Oh…um, okay," Cream said, trying to conceal her disappointment. "Good night, miss Rouge. And, um-" She hesitated, knowing she should say it but not sure if it was wanted, "Good- Good night, mister Shadow."

"Good night, Cream." Rouge said.

Shadow nodded at the little rabbit, not as stone-faced as he could be.

And away they left, either to walk or to flag down another taxi, Cream waving goodbye on the doorstep.

They had walked, not finding a taxi anywhere ("Sheesh, not even one! I tip like a queen, and this is how they repay me?"). Rouge threw the door shut behind them and flopped down on the couch, her feet hurting. "Ugh…" She kicked off her shoes. That pair of heels had seemed like such a good idea a few hours ago…

Shadow was still standing, stiff and statue-like. He wasn't tired. He looked like he had been standing there for ten minutes, not fresh from walking several miles. Social gatherings put him on edge, but going through half the city at night was nothing. The exercise and potential muggers/drunks/riffraff meant very little to a guy who crushed robots like soda cans for a living.

"We were there a short time," he said. "You could go back by yourself."

She eyed him. Huh, acknowledging that she might want to stay longer than him. That was progress. "No," Rouge said. "I could, you're right, but no. We're already home. I'm not walking back all that way."

Shadow looked at her fixedly. "You know bringing me forces you to shorten your stay. Why did you want me there?"

"Because," Rouge said promptly, having considered that exact question on the long walk back home, "I don't think it's good for you, or anybody, to stay isolated except for work. And," she added, a smile making it to her face. "it lets everyone know you're still alive."

"I doubt it mattered that I was there."

"Cream went over and talked to you!" Rouge said, in a 'you silly man!' sort of tone. "And Amy and Sonic both asked me about your costume. I'm pretty sure they were glad to see you."

"Hm."

She thought of, but did not mention, the independent searches for his body she and some of the others had made, after Shadow's apparent death. And all they'd known about him then was that he had helped nearly destroy the world, but changed his mind, and died stopping what he'd set into motion. Sonic had kept his inhibitor ring as a memento for some time.

And the questions she'd gotten after the Black Arms invasion… Their friends knowing that Shadow's a strong guy and too proud not to seem fine, but individually approaching her with hushed voices. Is he okay? I saw this or that happen, how is Shadow? Those aliens did so-and-so, how is he?

And so on. Similar wording, several times, with the same sentiment.

"They're invested in your wellbeing," Rouge chose to say. "And so am I. I know, shocking, but we are."

He looked skeptical. "They don't often speak to me."

Rouge fixed him with a stare. _"Because they think you don't want to talk._ They usually go to me to ask how you're doing. And, really, are they wrong?"

He thought about this for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No. Most socializing is unnecessary."

"I appreciate that you put in the effort and went with me, though," Rouge said. "Even if I did have to bribe you."

Shadow had enough of a sense of irony to smile a little bit at this. "It _was_ good cake."

Rouge chuckled. "I bet it was."

Then she rose from the couch. It was late. And no matter how tired she was, she wouldn't fall asleep for awhile. Not because of, like, inner turmoil or something; it was just that bats were supposed to be nocturnal, but the world had decided that things should start at 7 in the morning! Barbaric. Someday she'd find whoever had decided these things and set them straight.

"I'm going to bed," Rouge said. "Gonna take off all this and try to sleep… We're on call tomorrow."

Shadow nodded. That was a sound, practical idea. He would do that too.

"Don't forget you're still wearing that."

He'd forgotten he had it on. "I know that."

"I'm sure," she said lightly. "Good night."

And she went down the hall to her room. Shadow trailed after her- his room was next door to hers- thinking.

Good night. That was another one of those things that people did for some reason. He'd stopped pointing out that saying or not saying good night made no difference. When he had, Rouge had replied that it was a nice thing to say, so why _not_ say it? Or, another variant, when she was more tired: you're the ultimate and can do 'no sleep' for god knows how long, but I'm a normal damn person and need all the good nights I can get, okay?

Rouge paused at her door, and yawned.

Shadow compromised, and made a 'good night'-sounding noise.

She glanced at him, vaguely surprised, then smiled, before finally vanishing into her room.

Huh. Maybe there _was_ a point to all these things… Good nights and Halloween parties and needless speech. Shadow opened the door to his sparse bedroom, and pulled it shut behind him. He'd figure it out eventually.


End file.
